SUBSCRIBE:

Nepalese journalist's attackers sentenced to prison

Share

Freedom Forum welcomes a court decision slapping a jail term on the attackers of a journalist. On 22 April 2013, the Morang District Court sentenced Manoj Rai to five years in prison and Rohit Koirala to six months for assaulting Khilnath Dhakal, a reporter with the Nagarik daily, from Biratnagar, in eastern Nepal.

Both Rai and Koirala are cadres of the Youth Association Nepal, a youth wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).

The two individuals had held and mercilessly assaulted Dhakal on 5 June 2011, over one of his news reports. Following the incident, the Morang Chapter of the Federation of Nepali Journalists filed an attempted murder case against the assailants and Parsuram Basnet, the mastermind behind the attack. Basnet appeared in court after absconding for 11 months. He was subsequently released and given a clean chit by the court.

Dhakal had reported on a physical attack on the prisoners at the premises of the Morang District Court that occurred on 1 June 2011.

Freedom Forum believes that even though the court decision was delayed, it will help check the growing impunity in the country. Moreover, it provides some relief and justice for the attacked journalist.

Freedom Forum, as an organization working to defend freedom of expression, the right to information, human rights and democracy in the country, had earlier condemned the attack and strongly demanded that the government bring the culprits to book as per the law.

Freedom Forum monitored FoE during the elections as it concerns citizens' freedom of expression through the ballot box. Therefore, any action creating an unfavourable atmosphere for the elections is also a violation of freedom of expression.

This report presents the outcome of an assessment of women's participation in the Nepali print media as news source, news actors and news reporters identified in bylines. Women's participation is still meager vis a vis Nepali media content

Freedom Forum has issued a review of Nepal's National Mass Communications Policy 2016. Among others, FF says the policy fails to articulate constitutional provisions relating to freedom of expression and mass communication. The policy, they said, also seems to promote centralided regulation, instead of self-regulation.

Freedom Forum observed a relatively peaceful atmosphere for the media this year (2016) with a significant decline in the number of press freedom violations. FF recorded only 25 incidents of press freedom violations during 2016 versus 83 in 2015.

The report features present FoE practices on internet in Nepal and analyses existing policy, laws and constitution affecting the practice of freedom of expression. It seeks to advance the debate on this topic, thereby augmenting digital rights to make democracy's pillars more sustainable and more functional.

(*The As the world is marking World Press Freedom Day today (May 3, 2015), Nepali media is grief-stricken, mourning over the deaths of thousands of Nepalis with slim hopes of finding anyone alive nine days after the destructive earthquake. Freedom Forum normally marks this day with the production of a report on press freedom across the country and other programs. But, this time, this report on 'media in a disaster' is unavoidable.

The 100-page report shows that Tibetan refugee communities in Nepal are now facing a de facto ban on political protests, sharp restrictions on public activities promoting Tibetan culture and religion, and routine abuses by Nepali security forces.

Pakistan is among the countries that do not properly investigate and prosecute crimes against media professionals. Because of the near absolute level of impunity, most of the people who attack, injure or even murder media journalists in Pakistan remain free.

The report is based on incidents of crimes committed against journalists recorded by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) during the period 2012 to 2016. Most of the incidents of crimes against journalists, particularly killings, reported during this period are related to acts of politically motivated violence.

In the 27 cases of journalists murdered for their work in India since CPJ began keeping records in 1992, there have been no convictions. More than half of those killed reported regularly on corruption. The cases of Jagendra Singh, Umesh Rajput, and Akshay Singh, who died between 2011 and 2015, show how small-town journalists face greater risk in their reporting than those from larger outlets, and how India's culture of impunity is leaving the country's press vulnerable to threats and attacks

Latin America is, by far, the most dangerous region of the world for environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs). The lack of effective guarantees of human rights protection in Latin American States has created this dire situation.

Press freedom in the Philippines continued to be under attack from 2014 to 2015. The killing of journalists is continuing, with four journalists killed from May 2014 to May 2015. The trial of the accused masterminds of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre and their supposed henchmen is continuing, but with a primary accused was released, while a witness in the same case was killed.

This 96-page report profiles eight “strongmen” linked to police, intelligence, and militia forces responsible for serious abuses in recent years. The report documents emblematic incidents that reflect longstanding patterns of violence for which victims obtained no official redress.

Journalism in South Asia is far from an easy profession, as the 12th annual review of journalism in the region "The Campaign for Justice: Press Freedom in South Asia 2013-14" portrays. But this year's report also tells the story of the courage of South Asia's journalists to defend press freedom and to ensure citizens' right to information and freedom of expression in the face of increasing challenges to the profession and personal safety.

RWB report is being published ahead of the presidential election scheduled for 5 April. It is the fruit of a fact-finding visit to the northern provinces of Parwan, Kapisa and Panjshir in September 2013

IFEX publishes original and member-produced free expression news and reports. Some member content has been edited by IFEX. We invite you to contact [email protected] to request permission to reproduce or republish in whole or in part content from this site.